Manhunt
|ratings = |engine = |protagonist = James Earl Cash |location = Carcer City |year = 2003 }} Manhunt is a stealth-based survival horror video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games, originally released for the in November 2003, and for and in April 2004. Manhunt was released through the for the in 2013 and in 2016. It is the first installment in the Manhunt series, and was followed by 2007's Manhunt 2. Set in the fictional American settlement of Carcer City, Manhunt chronicles the story of James Earl Cash, a death row prisoner forced to participate in a series of snuff films for disgraced film producer Lionel Starkweather, earning his freedom by murdering criminal gang members sent to hunt him on camera. A pet project of Rockstar North, Manhunt was developed by a different team than the one focused on its previous GTA titles. Development lasted for three years, with employees concerned about the controversy the game would gain for its violent nature and more serious tone in comparison to previous games by Rockstar. Upon release, Manhunt received mostly positive reviews from gaming publication, and was signaled out for its originality. It was praised for its atmosphere, nihilistic tone and presentation, though it was also criticized for being repetitive. The game's gameplay and difficulty polarized critics, as did the overall violent nature and graphic content of the experience. Manhunt was subject to a significant controversy after its release; it was banned in several countries, accused for glorifying murder and vigilantism, and implicated in a murder by the UK media, although this implication was later rejected by the police and courts. Synopsis In 2003 in Carcer City, a journalist reports on the news about James Earl Cash, a death row prisoner recently executed by lethal injection. However, Cash was only sedated, awakening to an unknown voice referring to himself as "The Director" giving him instructions through an earpiece. The Director promises Cash his freedom, but only if he murders "Hunters" – gang members sent to hunt him – in special areas filmed by CCTV. Cash is instructed to kill members of "Hoods", a gang of corrupt police officers patrolling an abandoned area of Carcer City. Cash kills the Hoods but is abducted by the Cerberus, a unit of mercenaries working as private security for the Director. Cash is told he "has more to do before the night is out" and subsequently forced to kill a series of increasingly dangerous gangs. First, Cash faces a skinhead gang called "The Skinz" in a junkyard. Then, Cash faces a sadistic paramilitary called "Wardogs" in an abandoned zoo, using Cash's family as hostages to bait him out. Then, Cash faces a gang called "Innocentz", consisting of Hispanics, occultist gangsters known as "Skullyz" and demented perverts known as "The Babyfaces", in the streets, a shopping mall, a graveyard, and a chemical factory in abandoned area of Carcer City. Cash discovers that the Director had his family killed and furiously vows revenge. The Director forces Cash to face "The Smileys", a gang of schizophrenic psychopathic inmates who have taken over their insane asylum. Cash is instructed to follow the "White Rabbit", a man dressed in a rabbit costume, through the asylum until the Director ultimately betrays him for the "final scene" of his film. Cash unexpectedly survives and escapes the asylum, prompting the Director to deploy the remaining Wardogs, led by the vicious Ramirez, to hunt Cash down and kill him. Ramirez catches Cash and decides to play a final game of cat and mouse with him. Cash manages to kill Ramirez and the Wardogs, and the journalist reporting on Cash suddenly arrives in her car and rescues him. She explains that the Director is Lionel Starkweather, a famous former film producer from who now produces for a snuff film ring. The journalist has been compiling evidence against Starkweather and now has enough to expose him but needs to retrieve some from her apartment. Starkweather blackmails Gary Schaffer, the corrupt chief of the Carcer City Police Department, to apprehend Cash and the journalist. Cash escorts the journalist to her apartment, protecting her from the police, and heads off to deal with Starkweather personally. Cash fights police and SWAT teams hunting him through the subway and streets until he is cornered in a train yard. Cash is almost summarily executed before the police are killed by the Cerberus, who recapture Cash and bring him to Starkweather's mansion compound where he is almost executed again. The Cerberus are distracted when Piggsy, a mentally disturbed, chainsaw-wielding psychopath who wears a pig's head as a mask and is normally kept chained up in Starkweather's attic, breaks free. Cash progresses through the garden and mansion, killing members of the Cerberus along the way, until he is confronted by Piggsy in the upper levels of the mansion. Cash triumphs after luring Piggsy onto a grate that collapses under his weight and falls to his death. Cash finally confronts Starkweather in his office and disembowels him with Piggsy's chainsaw before killing him. Later, the media and the police arrive at the mansion, with the journalist exposing Starkweather's snuff ring and police complicity, and Schaffer is criminally prosecuted for corruption. Cash, however, is nowhere to be found. Cast Development Development on Manhunt began around 2000 and lasted almost three years, concurrently to the development and releases of Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The production on Manhunt was commenced by a different team than the one which worked on the GTA titles, with former Rockstar Games employee Jeff Williams noting the game was a "pet project" of Rockstar North. According to the game's lead character designer Alan Davidson, the team "wanted to create a fucked-up game using AI controlled gangs hunting the player and it all snowballed from there". The story was developed and written by Davidson, regular GTA co-writer James Worall and lead level designer Christian Cantamessa. The game was aimed to "explores the depths of human depravity in a vicious, sadistic tale of urban horror". The game's script was 200-page long. Manhunt's violent nature was a piece of concern for several employees within Rockstar, with Williams claiming that "most of them at Rockstar Games" wanted no part in the game's development due to being weathered down by the controversies surrounding the GTA series. The conflicting opinions on the game's realistic depiction of violence almost caused a mutiny within the company. Manhunt was officially announced by Rockstar North at E3 2003, on May 14, 2003. Rockstar remained silent about details for the game until July of the same year, when the company revealed the boxart in addition to a supplementary site entitled "Fetish Hardcore and Brutality", which included cryptic videos and comments. Reception Reviews Manhunt received generally positive reviews across gaming publications upon its release in 2003, with the PS2 version aggregating a score of 75/100 on MetaCritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews" by the site; it was cited as the 81st best rated PS2 game of 2003, and was the ninth most discussed title of the console that year. The game's later releases on the Xbox and PC platforms also granted it generally positive reviews. The PC version aggregated a score of 76/100 on MetaCritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The Xbox version aggregated a score of 74/100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Controversies Sales Legacy Gallery Trailers Trivia